Welcome. This is my blog. It is my open diary that describes everything that matters to me. I will not apologize for its content; nor will I compromise who I am or suppress the truth. It is what it is.
Once upon a time there was a girl who was trapped inside her cocoon. She hid there because it was safe and no one could bother her. Years went by and that cocoon was a constant shelter, but as the girl began to grow; the cocoon began to feel cramped and suddenly one day, it cracked. Alarmed, the girl tried to repair the cracks, but as she would cover up one, others would appear. Then one day, the cocoon completely shattered. And out of the cocoon; the girl was exposed to the elements. It scared her. She felt the cold and the heat and had to learn to weather storms and take shelter from the rain. This began to toughen her. She suddenly realized how confident she was becoming. Then she began to take more risks and leave her comfort zone. She suddenly discovered all the wonders that were surrounding her and the more she traveled; she learned even more. Her growth was continuing and one day while strolling by a river, she saw her reflection and noticed that her form had changed. She had wings. A slight wind blew and all at once she began to fly. Up, up, up she went. Higher and higher. She giggled. It was fun. The freedom was exhilarating and she danced in the sunlight. The rays of the sun shined on her wings and the colors became ever so bright. She liked this feeling and as she flew higher, a voice came from the sky. She asked who it was and when it answered, it told her that no longer did she need to hide in a cocoon, for now she was a butterfly.
This is what started it all: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/11/tavis-smiley-quits-radio_n_96246.html
Tavis Smiley has patterned himself as the keeper of Black America. Our gatekeeper of sorts. He's been at it for over 30 years and if anyone has paid attention to him lately; it is obvious that he does not like President Obama. I noticed it during the first election race. Tavis had several people on his show summarizing the future president and it just appeared to me that he couldn't muster up a compliment of any kind. This went on until Obama won. Everyone was happy--except Tavis. Moment after moment, Tavis would criticize Obama for many things; then he and Dr. Cornell West decide to do the Poverty Tour. Now, mind you, I find it noble to champion the cause of those who are economically deprived; but both Tavis and Dr. West are very rich men. Yet, they criticize many of the policies of Obama.
More recently, Tavis has made negative comments because in his opinion, he didn't feel that Obama is the reality of Dr. Martin Luther King's dream--just a down payment. His words.
A footnote to this: As a child, Tavis was so good at memorizing and performing Dr. King's speeches, he got paid. This continued in college. More frankly, Tavis always saw himself as the legacy to Dr. King's Dream....then Obama came along and messed it up.
Most of us who are over 35 got to know Travis when he was a guest host on BET in the early days. Now he has his own talk show (if you wanna call it that) on PBS. He's come a long way.
I could go on and on...but you get the point.
Reading through all of it, I just have to be real and say that in my honest opinion; Tavis is jealous of the President.
When I woke up New Years Day, I thanked the Lord for seeing another new year...then, I completed the index cards that I had wrote all of my expectations for the year. On those cards are every single thing that I expect to either achieve or have happen within the year.
I was told to write things down--and from what I've experienced; you get much of what you expect. The Law of Attraction is real.
Some people are just naturally pessimistic. I'm not. I'm a dare-devil dreamer and maybe a little arrogant in thinking that I can have whatever I desire--if I'm just willing to believe.
It was fun doing it and my attitude and energy is in alignment with my expectations.
From within; I am feeling very positive.
I'll keep the blog posted for what is accomplished.
Each year, we make resolutions at the end of the year for what we expect for the coming New Year.
Well, I stopped doing that a long time ago.
I make declarations now.
This year, my declaration is TAKING COMMAND. And it literally is a call to arms to make my goals, prayers, hopes, and dreams my responsibility. I have a pretty good understanding of what faith is at this time in my life and it hit me days before the end of 2012: that I possess the power to make those things that aren't, a reality. It's all within me.
I prayed over this of course. It's very important to put God first and seek his guidance. Going with that, I'm very focused and will be approaching every single desire with the militancy and force of a General leading his troops into expected victory over anything in their path. Day one: I took the initiative to go after something that I had lost, and now reclaim. Also, I'm continuing with what I started in 2012 that is to be completed in 2013.
A good start and I intend to keep checking off each thing I set my mind to.
For those who grew up in Chicago, there are BIG names that had much infamy; aka, Al Capone criminally, and politically, the powerful Richard J. Daley, to name a few, but as relates to the violence in Chicago's south side Englewood community; there are two names that are legendary to these: Jeff Fort, founder of Blackstone Rangers/Black P. Stones/El Rukn's, and Larry Hoover: founder of The Black Gangster Disciples.
These two men have had more impact on a generation than any President, mayor, congressman, senator, businessman, etc., in recent memory. Their charisma, talent for leadership, organizational genius and fearlessness, help to shape two of the largest, most feared, organized and ruthless gangs in U.S. history.
Jeff Fort
Long before the Crips and the Bloods, the Blackstone Rangers(El Rukn's), started in 1959 by Eugene "Bull" Hairiston and Jeff Fort while both were locked up in St. Charles, Illinois' juvenile detention center; they formed a group for protection, out of the street where Jeff's family lived(Blackstone). Their ultimate goal was absolute power. And they meant it. No one could understand what was Jeff's power and hold over these big strong guys; but he had it and he knew how to use it. They operated like a tight military unit.
Police were even scared of them.
Please review this video for clarity:
Book can be purchased on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Almighty-Black-Stone-Nation-Resurgence/dp/B005DI7IHW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355943039&sr=1-1&keywords=the+almighty+black+p+stone+nation
Larry Hoover
Gangster. Known as "King Larry," leader of the Gangster Disciple Nation. Born Larry Hoover on November 30, 1950, in Jackson, Mississippi. His parents moved the family north to Chicago, Illinois, when Hoover was four years old. By the time he was 12 years old, Larry was on the streets with his friends. Calling themselves "The Supreme Gangsters," the group would often ditch school together and ride the El train around the city. Occasionally, they would engage in petty crimes, including stealing and mugging. His criminal activity soon evolved to shootings and assault.
The first rule of the Gangster Disciples was "Secrecy and Silence".
As the gang grew, Hoover emerged as the natural leader. Along with rival gang leader David Barksdale, Hoover decided to merge their gangs into one: the Gangster Disciple Nation. In 1969, after Barksdale was killed in a shooting, Hoover took the reins of the Gangster Disciples, which now had control of Chicago's South Side. Under Hoover's rule, the Gangster Disciples took over the South Side drug trade, making more than $1,000 a day in profits.
By the age of 24, Hoover had been in and out of prison several times, and had endured six separate shooting attempts on his life. Each time, he survived, and doubled his retaliation efforts. But on February 26, 1973, Hoover went too far. He and another Gangster Disciple, Andrew Howard, shot and killed dealer William Young after a heated argument over money. Both Hoover and Howard were arrested, and sentenced to 150 to 200 years in prison. Hoover was sent to Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois, to serve out his term.
But Hoover's power seemed only to grow inside Stateville. He began protecting other inmates, who then became devotees and new recruits for the Gangster Disciple Nation. His control over the other prisoners was recognized by the warden's office, which began looking to Hoover as a positive influence to quell riots and uprisings within the prison system.
Growth and Development
Hoover, inspired by the biography of Mayor Richard J. Daley, began discouraging violence among his followers. Instead, he made education mandatory for members of the Gangster Disciples, and instructed his army to "go to school, learn trades and develop...talents and skills, so that we will become stronger in society."
Changing the GD of "Gangster Disciple" to "Growth and Development," Hoover's move to reform began gaining positive attention from the outside. Growth and Development created nonprofit organizations that registered voters, a music label that helped needy children, a series of peaceful protests to fight the closing of public programs, and even a clothing line for charity.
Dubious prison officials, however, saw Hoover's good intentions as a ploy to get out of prison and resume his illegal activities. While friends and allies on the outside lobbied to get Hoover paroled for his contributions to society, law enforcement agents say Larry was finding new ways to expand his criminal ventures. The Gangster Disciples had grown to more than 15,000 members in at least five states. Their drug profits had also risen well into the millions of dollars—all of which gang members attributed to the leadership of Larry Hoover.
Transferred to a minimum security prison in Vienna, Illinois, Hoover was living a luxurious lifestyle that involved new clothes, expensive jewelry, specially prepared meals, and private visitations from friends and loved ones. Suspicious authorities began wire-tapping Hoover's private meetings, and discovered that he was running the Gangster Disciple group from within the prison system.
Worse still, informants revealed that all of Hoover's nonprofit organizations were actually fronts for laundering drug money. According to the testimony of Gangster Disciple members, none of the proceeds for any of the so-called charities actually went to helping anyone in need.
On August 31, 1995, after a 5-year undercover investigation by the federal government, Hoover was indicted for drug conspiracy, extortion, and continuing to engage in a criminal enterprise. He was arrested at the Vienna Correctional Center by federal agents, and moved to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago to stand trial. In 1997, Hoover was found guilty on all charges, and sentenced to six life sentences. Hoover is currently serving his sentence at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado.
The violence and chaos that has been recently reported about Chicago's south side is nothing new. It's just a continuation of a legacy that began a long time ago.
I think of all of the lives that have been lost because of the senselessness of gang life. Almost 2 generations of Black males have perished because of the influence of these two men. The sad reality of this is that many of these young men had fathers, grandfathers, uncles and brothers who lived the life. A generational curse in full effect.
Obviously, Larry Hoover and Jeff Fort had natural gifts; but they were used in the wrong way. Both men are imprisoned in Federal Colorado Supermax prison, which also houses the Uni-bomber.
And the price that was paid was in blood.
Can Chicago ever stop the violence?
Someone once told me that the richest place on earth is not a gold or diamond mine. It is a graveyard. Because graveyards are filled with people who never lived up to their potential.
This morning when signing onto Facebook, I learned of the sudden passing of yet another classmate/friend.
I went to and graduated from North Chicago Community High School in Illinois and unlike many people around the world; my class was very close-knit. We all lived in the same community, socialized together, went to the various churches, our parents knew each other...it was a family bond. And when we suffered any kind of loss in my community; everyone took it personal.
While trying to process this today, within the last 30 minutes, I learned of yet another classmate who has been sick for about a year with heart problems. The prognosis is not good.
I was listening to my playlist and Stevie Wonder's Never Dreamed You Leave In Summer and it really fits the mood.
The last eight years of my life have been filled with a lot of loss of friends of my family and those I've known most of my life.
All I can do is give my condolences and prayers.
Please do not take people for granted and tell those that you know that you love them.
No. I'm not late. I just have been offline for about two weeks. And I need to discuss this...like really, really...bad. It's time.
Couldn't even get my Thanksgiving meal down after hearing about the big brawl that occurred at Halle's house.
Really? Did Gab deserve to get beat down like that? I'm starting to really feel sorry for this guy. Stockholm Syndrome is beginning to take and effect I guess.
But I'm not kidding, I think it's high time for people to really ask the real question: WHAT IS WRONG INSIDE OF HALLE BERRY THAT SHE ATTRACTS THIS TYPE OF ENERGY IN HER LIFE? If you're over 35, then you saw Halle come up. And I swear for over 20 years, this woman has had one bad relationship after the other. It was Wesley Snipes who hit her so hard; it literally bust her eardrum, leaving her deaf in that ear. And this was long before she married David Justice and then Eric Benet--divorcing both. All of this failure from one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. What's up? She's had more men than most women will have in a lifetime; but she can't keep any. And she loves to play the victim. Her relationship with Gab lasted barely two years, ending up in hostility and now violence. This new dude better take cover.
Personally, I'm giving the relationship two years. Anyone wanna bet on it.
But honestly, men really need to stay clear of Halle Berry. It's clear that she's disturbed and needs help.
Black men used to love her, but many were turned off after her performance in Monster's Ball. It was a slap in the face to see a Black woman literally have sex with a racist Redneck crakkka (Billy Bob Thornton)--who was responsible for the execution of a Black man; and one of the ugliest white men in the business--then have Hollywood reward her with an Academy award for it.
In a nutshell, it's one thing to blame a relationship failure on the man, but when you have a history of this; logically speaking, it's not the man--It's HALLE.
When returning to work after the re-election of President Barack Obama, I was greeted by a headline in my local newspaper of a local woman who was fired for her racist comments on Facebook regarding the Presidential race. Her name was Beth Oglesby. If you look for her facebook account, quite conveniently, it's been deleted.
But it was too late. The damage had been done. Many people who viewed the comment began taking snapshots of it with their Smartphones and the evidence was sealed in cyber in perpetuity.
The trouble all started when Ms. Oglesby quipped "That damn N*gger got re-elected again. God Bless The USA!" Angry comments followed, but Ms. Oglesby was not deterred and she continued to make racist comments
I'm not really shocked by her reaction. I've lived in Georgia for eight years now and this is the true face of white southerners. There are many like Beth Oglesby and she just was bold about her true bigotry against African Americans.
As one, I'm not saddened, hurt or the least bit upset. Why? Because this was a young white woman who obviously had learned her racist views from somewhere. Which gives a true moot response to whites who dare ask: "Is race still a problem in America?"
When was it ever resolved?
African Americans for the most part are not the least bit fooled by the smiles we get in the grocery store, the looks from whites as we go about our business or how whites feign their so called "colorblindness" mantras. No. we are too hip and discerning to by into that. We know what white folks are thinking--even when they try to mask it. It's not so much what they do overtly that condemns them--it's the covert and the subconscious that expose white people.
Beth Oglesby is a representative of this group She was fired from her job for this act of free speech. The place where she worked began to have their business impacted and had to act. Well, this child is in the cyber archives forever. She can delete her account--not what she did. And the world will read about it long after she leaves this earth.
Here's the kicker: Apparently, she had Black friends. Wow! Imagine that.
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